Kamelot / Myrath / Eleine / League of Distortion @ Z7 Pratteln

12.03.2023 Z7 Konzertfabrik Pratteln, Switzerland

It’s the last day of the concert marathon and apparently I’m not the only one tired from this beautiful, but also a bit exhausting weekend. I don’t drink a drop of alcohol and still feel like I’ve partied for three days straight. Maybe I’m just getting old. Today there are four bands at Z7 on the Kamelot Tour, a bigger spectacle.

CONCERT PHOTOS HERE

League of Distortion start the show today. Frontwoman Anna Brunner, who has been in a relationship with Kissin’ Dynamite singer Hannes for a long time, could actually have travelled with them yesterday, but unfortunately that wasn’t the case. But it’s good that she’s concentrating on her own band now, because vocally she has a lot to offer. League of Distortion is a new band that has just released the first album – you should definitely buy it. The music of those Germans has a lot of variety, sometimes drifting to progressive, sometimes to punk and metal, and on top the powerful voice of Anna, a quite different sound compared with these high female voices. For the first show on the first big tour they all do quite well, here and there one could still optimise the timing and the stage cooperation a bit, but I am confident that this will come soon. During the song “Wolf or Lamb”, Anna wears a “Little Red Riding Hood” cape, which would have looked better in chiffon fabric and longer (I have the same one from Wish, no great quality). A nobler fabric would have gone better with the patent leather clothes. But otherwise it was worth it for me to come to the show, just because of this band. League of Distortion will be showing off a lot more, so check them out now.

After a short changeover, the Swedes Eleine follow with their dark symphonic metal that they have been releasing since 2014. For me it’s a premiere, I think. At least I can’t remember having seen the band live before. Singer Madeleine Liljestam comes open-heartedly on stage and presents a voluptuous décolleté rather than a powerful singing voice. To be honest, the music of Eleine is quite strong and powerful, the growls and the vocals of Rikard Ekberg also fit very well, but the soft voice of Madeleine makes you think …is there more to come ….there should be more power. But unfortunately that doesn’t happen. The lady is very present on stage and without a doubt a pretty sight. But outfit, voice and the music somehow just don’t fit together. In my opinion, there should be a slight oriental influence, especially if you know the pictures of her belly dancing across the stage. But when music and belly dancing don’t go together, it’s just a shame. The atmosphere is not quite as good as you would like, and with 30 minutes of playing time, at least 10 minutes of it are wasted with talking. I would rather play more songs.

Myrath are next on the schedule. The legends of progressive metal from Tunisia, with their oriental influences, the gentlemen have created a unique feature that can no longer be imagined without today. Unfortunately, there is no elaborate stage show today, as is sometimes the case with them. That is probably left to the main act. The show is kept rather low-key, but you notice from time to time that the guys are indeed having fun being on stage. Somehow it feels that they hold back a bit. There is so much power, so their restraint is a pity. Even worse is the sound: a disaster, much too bass-drum, again and again you can’t hear anything but a dull roar from the speakers. Whoever was sitting at the mixing desk here did not do a good job to at least come close to fixing this. What a pity. Here, too, I have to say that for me there was no real good atmosphere. Although the people in the audience probably found the show exciting for the most part, vocally everything fit very well, but my overall impression was rather dull. Maybe the band just needs to warm up a bit, since it’s the first show of the tour.

The changeover phase for Kamelot drags on unnecessarily. The stage is covered with a big white cloth, so that you can’t see anything of the stage set, which is probably totally exciting. And then the curtain falls at the first sound and you see… em, nothing…. nothing earth-shattering. Two big K for Kamelot emblems on a stand and a typical staircase, on one side is Oli Palotai and on the other the new drummer Alex Landenburg. The band is promoting their new album “The Awakening” on this tour, which is available from March 17, and on which guest singer Melissa Bonny will also be heard. The young Swiss lady from Montreux is also on this tour with Kamelot and gives the Kamelot songs an extra kick with her high voice and growls, which singer Tommy Karevik doesn’t manage. It’s even better that her mum is also in the audience, proudly cheering her daughter at the tour opening show. Melissa also leaves a good impression on stage, even if every now and then a high note doesn’t sit quite right.

I am a bit disappointed by Karevik’s performance, which seems a bit rusty. Thomas Youngblood and especially Sean Tibbetts make sure that you get to see some action on stage. Sean twirls wildly across the stage with his dreads, you enjoy watching him. But the rest is a bit boring, even the waving of the Swiss flag doesn’t really help. I think that’s a pity, especially for a band like Kamelot. The 1000+ fans seem a bit lethargic from time to time, and so he’s asking from time to time whether the people are tired or what’s going on. Yes, maybe it’s because after this long absence and after 5 years without an album, fans would have expected something more than the old stairs and the podiums. Not that the band gave a bad performance, they are just too professional for that, but in the long run repeating the same thing over and over gets a bit boring. And the set list just wasn’t as thrilling as it used to be.

So a three-day concert marathon comes to an end, which unfortunately lost a bit of momentum towards the end. It’s a pity, I would have enjoyed the expected pompous ending with Kamelot, but maybe you have to warm up after this first show. The band is still touring Europe for a while. VIP tickets are relatively cheap at around 80 euros. So if you’d like a meet & greet with the band, grab one and rock out with the gentlemen from Kamelot.